Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears: A Novel
    Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears: A Novel
    Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears: A Novel
    Ebook292 pages4 hours

    Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears: A Novel

    By Ken Wheaton

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A freak accident forces a New Yorker to return to Louisiana and confront her Cajun past

    There is nothing more dangerous than a spooked rhinoceros. It is just before lunchtime when Huey, the prized black rhino of Broussard, Louisiana, erupts from his enclosure, trampling a zoo employee on his way to a rampage in the Cajun countryside. The incident makes the rounds online as News of the Weird, and Katherine Fontenot is laughing along with the rest of her New York office when she notices the name of the hurt zookeeper: Karen-Anne Castille—her sister.

    Fifty years old, lonely, and in danger of being laid off, Katherine has spent decades trying to ignore her Louisiana roots. Forced home by Karen-Anne’s accident, she remembers everything about the bayou that she wanted to escape: the heat, the mosquitoes, and the constant, crushing embrace of family. But when forced to confront the ghosts of her past, she discovers that escape might never have been necessary.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateJul 1, 2014
    ISBN9781497638556
    Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears: A Novel
    Author

    Ken Wheaton

    Ken Wheaton was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, in 1973. Raised Catholic and Cajun, Wheaton aspired to one day be a navy pilot but was sidelined by bad eyesight and poor math skills. He graduated from Opelousas Catholic School in 1991 and went off to Southampton College–Long Island University in Southampton, New York, intending to study marine biology. An excess of drinking and (again) a dearth of math skills led him to become an English major. From there he returned to Louisiana, where he received an MA in creative writing from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana-Lafayette).  Wheaton is the author of The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival and Bacon and Egg Man, and is the managing editor of the trade publication Advertising Age. A Louisiana native, he lives in Brooklyn, New York. Said Dave Barry of Wheaton’s second novel: “I had several drinks with the author at a party, and based on that experience, I would rank this novel right up there with anything by Marcel Proust.”

    Read more from Ken Wheaton

    Related to Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears

    Related ebooks

    Family Life For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Why I Don’t Write

      Mar 7, 2019

      Why I Don’t Write
      6 min read

    • Article

      Prepare Your Dairy for Winter

      Sep 17, 2021

      Prepare Your Dairy for Winter
      7 min read

    • Article

      Fabric Of Life

      Dec 16, 2021

      Before sewing machines took over, all women stitched. They had to. Think of clothing for a start. Teaching needlework began at home, then schools stepped in, so young girls are our guides to the sampler; a teaching medium that delivered much more tha

      2 min read

    • Article

      By Design

      Mar 3, 2020

      Her son and his future wife took Suzanne out to lunch and asked her to do the wedding invitations. Not so long ago, she had been a successful graphic designer. Her own boss. They were anxious to make her feel useful. When the food arrived, it was veg

      14 min read

    • Article

      The Library of Gromma

      Jul 10, 2023

      Zac was sweating and panting as he reached the top of the hill. The crooked beams of the library loomed over him. He dropped the buckets of water, swore at the few drops that spilled, and escaped the piercing morning sun in the shade of the library.

      22 min read

    • Article

      Island Beauty

      Dec 22, 2022

      Island Beauty
      6 min read

    • Article

      Wabanaki ways

      Jan 1, 2023

      Wabanaki ways
      4 min read

    • Article

      Lit Mag Changes Exploitative Name

      Oct 12, 2022

      After more than sixty years in circulation, the literary journal Crazyhorse is poised to change its name to swamp pink, after a lily species that grows in the Carolinas. The Fall 2022 issue of the journal, published by the College of Charleston in So

      3 min read

    • Article

      Clippings

      Feb 17, 2022

      Clippings
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tribal Surfers

      Oct 2, 2019

      Tribal Surfers
      7 min read

    • Article

      After the Storm

      Nov 25, 2023

      After the Storm
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Sparkling Jewell

      Aug 2, 2022

      A Sparkling Jewell
      4 min read

    • Article

      Bringing to Light Dark Matter: The Story of Vera Rubin

      Jul 1, 2022

      Bringing to Light Dark Matter: The Story of Vera Rubin
      9 min read

    • Article

      French Connection

      Sep 10, 2022

      Sunlight opened my eyes. I smelled fresh croissants and heard car motors and whooshing bicycles flying past the café where I sat in a wicker chair at a small, round table. A petit coffee and a glass of water had been served by a clean-shaven waiter i

      4 min read

    • Article

      Bill And The Tooth Fairy

      Mar 10, 2021

      Bill believed in the Tooth Fairy. Big deal, you’re thinking. Lots of kids believe in the Tooth Fairy. Well, Bill wasn’t a kid. He was twenty-eight years old. You don’t believe it. My girlfriend Mary Beth didn’t believe it, either. We were having dinn

      15 min read

    • Article

      Je Ne Sais Quoi

      May 6, 2023

      Je Ne Sais Quoi
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Nightstand

      May 28, 2022

      This memoir, by a White House Champion of Change and recipient of the Helen Keller Achievement Award, begins with the terrifying moment when the then-7-year-old Girma’s father is arrested by Ethiopian soldiers, leaving her alone on a plane to London,

      2 min read

    • Article

      Inspired By…

      Jan 17, 2024

      Inspired By…
      1 min read

    • Article

      Moorit Musings

      Nov 1, 2023

      Moorit Musings
      3 min read

    • Article

      Aging with Olive

      Oct 4, 2019

      Aging with Olive
      1 min read

    • Article

      Collecting Beauty

      Oct 14, 2022

      Collecting Beauty
      3 min read

    • Article

      Welcoming Committee

      Apr 25, 2023

      Welcoming Committee
      1 min read

    • Article

      Hocus Pocus

      Sep 14, 2022

      Hocus Pocus
      8 min read

    • Article

      Bittersweet

      Aug 8, 2023

      Bittersweet
      4 min read

    • Article

      Buddhist Directory

      Jun 7, 2022

      A DIRECTORY OF MEDITATION, RETREAT, AND YOGA CENTERS 5059 Newport Ave, Suite 303, San Diego, CA 92107. (619) 797-5483, www.dharmacenter.com • Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism in San Diego exists to share the teachings of meditation and mindfulness a

      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears

    4/5

    8 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      The Publisher Says: A freak accident forces a New Yorker to return to Louisiana and confront her Cajun pastThere is nothing more dangerous than a spooked rhinoceros. It is just before lunchtime when Huey, the prized black rhino of Broussard, Louisiana, erupts from his enclosure, trampling a zoo employee on his way to a rampage in the Cajun countryside. The incident makes the rounds online as News of the Weird, and Katherine Fontenot is laughing along with the rest of her New York office when she notices the name of the hurt zookeeper: Karen-Anne Castille—her sister.Fifty years old, lonely, and in danger of being laid off, Katherine has spent decades trying to ignore her Louisiana roots. Forced home by Karen-Anne’s accident, she remembers everything about the bayou that she wanted to escape: the heat, the mosquitoes, and the constant, crushing embrace of family. But when forced to confront the ghosts of her past, she discovers that escape might never have been necessary.I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS-PLUS. THANK YOU.My Review: It's funny how The Book for a particular mood will lurk until that moment hits. I needed an undemanding read, one that had nothing to do with the present-day mishegas I find both distasteful and unseemly; I found this book set in Obama-era New York City and central Louisiana. About a funeral, and coming to terms with what family means, what being in a family requires, how it is that Facebook has metastasized across nations and cultures.Published in 2015, the book follows Katie-Lee, fiftyish and full of the fear that gives single people, as she returns to bury her little sister in the wake of a Facebook-meme-able death. In fact, she finds out about the life-ending from her colleagues at (unnamed but obvious) Advertising Age, their titters and chuckles about a humorous tale of a zookeeper trampled by a rhino morphing into a dreadful reality: That's her baby sister. The shamefaced colleagues try to make it right, but she's already launched the boat onto the Styx. She has to Go Home. Not a flying visit. The Native has to Return. O frabjous day.Must be done. She does it. Hijinks ensue; her Louisiana family, of her generation that is, are all au courant with the world as they see it on Facebook, which is a large player in the novel. No political crap yet, as this book was written and published before the 2016 debacle revealed how much influence the platform has over far more than one's personal life. No Instagram, glancing mentions of Twitter, and Katie-Lee's a screen addict whose phone running out of bars is a Biblical-level disaster. She has more in common with the grandkids of her sisters and brother than with them.She honestly has no idea what to do with her sadness. Facing mortality for the first time is a life-changing experience. I did it in my 20s when the AIDS epidemic decimated the gay guys I knew and loved. I remember the emotions, the detachment from reality that realizing your own death is, inevitably and inexorably, coming closer and closer. Youth is gone in that moment, calendar be hanged. And Katie-Lee's life in Brooklyn isn't such that she's cushioned from the yawning emptiness of survivorhood.Dig we must, chere.The healing in this tale is family-wide, and inclusive. The tragedies of the past are present again as they always are at funerals; so are the fun memories that inject themselves into the geology of one's life. People whose acts are literally unforgivable are not forgiven, though that day will clearly come. But the truly unforgivable ones are the least likely to see themselves as needing forgiveness. THAT resonated. Author Wheaton nailed that. But he did so in a format, following a structure, and thus made sure the Lesson isn't A Sermon (and he includes one of those, a real dilly of a tone-deaf nightmare-from-Hell one at that) and moves on to the next laugh.There's the rub. This is a nightclub act written as a book. These moments are Wheaton's Brooklyn party pieces connected into a gender-swapped story to make them cohesive. (In fact, Katie-Lee's ex Howie sounds to me like Wheaton's ex only maybe not gender-swapped, if you take my meaning.) They're not less real or funny for that, but the structure of the book does nothing to hide this fact from knowing eyes. I'm from South Central Texas, I had a mamaw and she was transplanted Cajun stock, and in the days when I had party pieces, they fit together much the same way as Wheaton's do. So my eyes weren't fogged up but rather cleared by reading the present action-memory-lesson structure.I hurry to remind y'all that 3-1/2 stars is a positive rating. I'm not trying to blast the author; in fact I liked the rhythm, was comfortably on board with the predictability of it, and felt completely relaxed and happy and at home. Nothing much happens. No excitement apart from a funeral games scene that about popped my eyeballs out from trying not to wake my roomie up from the laughing.So do I recommend this read? Sure, so long as you're a storytelling-voice addict. It's $8 on your ereader and that's not a lot to spend on four or five hours' vacation without moving. But if you're not in the mood to listen to stories, this will not be a successful trip to Opelousas. (Where Mamaw's family came from! Now, I don't *know* that any Tullises married any Wheatons, but I bet if we....)
    • 5/5
      I received a free kindle copy of Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears by Ken Wheaton, published by Open Road Integrated Media from NetGalley in Exchange for a fair review.This is the only book I've read that referenced the city of my birth, Ville Platte, Louisiana. I found that intriguing.I gave this incredible story five stars. I am so impressed by Ken Wheaton's skill with words. The characters are in depth, the dialogue crisp & spot on & the pace of the story is fast & entertaining.I highly recommend this book.

    Book preview

    Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears - Ken Wheaton

    xեp7r{ZW_q+spnWT5|]_cQ-4tInNc,c{SQc_txWci?x~pyh- \Go w#E]Ynhv k=Fv>9E?+pۻqq;)xp5~UCe@6q1Mͺo΍5u{/۶>\k88|,82`'?Ro]D ZMw#7{"FGMĦz:l 3ڏ7º)3P>:ڢtm9njh.;SQ3%X6Q . -9d #/b* UGcMyNc >4-Y|5-ro5%̸Y3?-"l[Dw 5wz2ԁK# AR;ZKWam(LaBBW}ﱑunNƦ&G)p-==cӋa x@f qgETnn 6>r=zaDl 2Ep=GZL*ZϗDb^V} MET|~{/2P+X".$]NQѢ /<awٍuw'MHy_>7v9Jaܭt}w9S%wKa6@W394rG 2K.vSG;Q@a1 F cokƼ"vM@:),-Us #3aqDslg(|dή/v4 GlR$Gݥ鵐_Q/'0.vӺ7C2+:>i^zΣ8u7it#ld`R)"^[X\9 ?-T摑 $iF"5R@ -+cэ[~O=j<7.y9"u˩d"twrKœ!/COX`dnSSoO0,1t@ FЦֳOy5} Gmt˚@$=s"d3Ī5LM z\E!WX.>A"NwM( ۗb%51*i:+.^1sI%a '}F5)#* Ck\hk:')^ZEJB?0澡(YUK9!*TzrMP!n2<Prh# ~ͩᩔysI 2-uB!v}"VfJi OTYld! )pOH7|{w̸޾wǻt;v5wwc챲SHR<疹 cZ3^w |Oq  ۯ]Էd]X7@30X^7v1( J0qO\ u4)F"VT6_%;JsRpLmdw3 ։"5 6Y0|` €xDX'KfsKϾFwv΀y:@ܗL?0Z g)eC \@C.EtW:!C.cm U{vŖU0&R.iWKLުL),KȂV=x+!?#d_|5DKd֣Z7x鞤L\(:Bu_W~ \m)!E:݁I3"s Ρxkr#t[@-Ak- oIm {}AF,R}b 4B xW b if+`3Y!eBMr4Mu%UM |j '{7GzvqcH Q?'L+Hx(V >̆jPĈn濺EO jh".WU9+LgѭzEdU}o) inL!vutJ$ WI :.Ռ_ "̅ՅS aAmmZյQT9=x `Ru@/xIU:!qK[Y +gatNB$ߋ3>kP 0i YZx9ZwXīn%&{4B8@ xt0 3(-ZmM@;7+t gjdx؂\, .PU+&cEXҒiPIu}U?)|&T jOx!5qV#:rLN 8y?@swwMt`|AJXg)2~9c拦 s}7aHtx ~ sZG8Ђ1hvՊfV-rtmxo)XoL~.5Ž鋾W;a,μl`nCGr|+CNQPy*8éKak-l.ѫՁꚌ>!l~> Ng] N5I:%n'A &&w'irB"%O5@An!l+RCh ' lqkO e9FM`~ƍQw w۩[vf̌Ր^*=H s|*gK%mQ6.$D#>~Z6r9BX2?P_rE5^u) iKk n7:k9ړm߲T=h3}y8\j ls#E8+IVE=;IP%vXJFtGtۼ D?[Hpk6NbZ}yR.P*!/xM#Z4i6[:3`'O7^1˿ .ԾMcCV!a˔hFZdKa*Ӓ䯭?Ua[sҫ._fv`VsU!h0Q`B]Y-J> !Ԍ1y`ېY""/߷Y|OAgѷ\%r`_5fR e&5Xר=_"!|G-{GcO[7e k  \f 0$S=/#l _唙 JcPV:HGsEа.? k-(/iːMQŹ֏Se v6ɿ` wHG@AEM%d;MY4!@VCcݜȦ-)毉Q^D0 |C3۶㖴4:0HVhxut}Bvo0۴(FX$}lKjꙊ%Ԯ*sAW_.c68gn=W 5,<ܸMZ[yaŪ!?G[%nJba ::9F:$@m˷{!.YsM{ΟHRBV@~?!yɣ`ưeǣFϊ(?||upuMݏ_l2%۵ۦXod_}, T0Իn$I2yB? 6hr:MsL96J<ĵCqpz;au:6788mΓ Ͱwn&W2"*qiû.{flj.͙N,k2 Hc*4F( τy</nTHLHy/4jmc;Xë- k|oow(IF% K {qhu_6 ^+F--& T稚r;H%G\iuI\WSOi.ύ\i`|>jfww6S~.3H_&?6ꦉa*Mkk-,^| r7X毯H9kuaOgӢ6PcIOt= T7Z b(2w5梹4)ѳv(ŔY~]9kAiJUO5*4/ZFwY 9j(F2%=I~~wphLk[6٭qZHT~+SEaO[d]R4E~Ѽ̖Si4'FFM/ M!AQxUsA؆C`oF(J'Fq7WD˕%l f6 9h]IiM7&2kg܂& %AVCFbf/D2霕5qS$r+PQr͠Tra Yb2W<< 6*mNQY+.SV?<e։]W[k t_]IlRϊ"\|$Zy$4C٭ynZuQgXf\ O> D۱Gk AJA\] ʑ0j6 4Sl|$|+^h>K(Q6}רwjWJ_en|M8WwJ[-sIM_"i _4)ةf-3E>pFQ5݁H,@xg-7ug5(]lrJN,xW_NQeR[T <e nrD xOkk݅SlfJg6ڵ>o~v8ɀ[7'ı&[ ZkˍͲzo+oQ6!x1#2!MR; YFn8K]y~N%mhI%6.ʌr+5 X_}r-\u\&aH5Y.xvGf=\U\=v1%rY| t=E-dZ_d7X|Dl/}"lN*/^*RvAɯ [0lCkl,cW|;mxY^N,XB!/ѱH%Ix74n^= r!sf;Oad|+稞9.Bl[; (~ͽodblI:X*5dIdru  SHFGClȩfD:ѢFi/=DKp.3 ^|>|t5txs3Jw!\BDc-; Y ǽBzgF o^sU>oKu*;FQpUhsrGV]>ΉBn(^R37ss0&Nj}*VEjngS;Zzs#]H)XZdց+bt=1v늗eQ:?nGp!af?'XaJ:0md5Ӊ0֡,}K}G3Ś4*5W {9mkf6Hcj=..;sUOX6x;.>89OgusTuR1}@tm*Fi3w{;t6Biu$ NRmU7>}9aiR!yz;] _`w.YS~5lú5"ql42Ę'8,j|-mZ1]emKRAs_Eَ:e#Y¯l1юo?^LSQEm89B|tyԌ`ΰl'$Km.~N%Uv8B?Uʥ3r(V.y `JpNe#66 +/˃ϒڂwlXO/CuDΩ0Im:tNGƽ ho]`].B 4>13c~%F"RsHe cmfc;}X_hwm#l G5RzVoFXN;62T VmovDZPܝ)ˣ:ipZ'"?_I)UfPN(N=N%ܘ/޾g`@94m#kM1Γ|%ݦ.k, TeGiUY!5u4{Fз. f4<1KYY }a/Wĩ9!־: clcJӘ ::ʄ6/ys,^&ƻ%Mii/-H8>A*>=Y/쭱d5u_k0:1y <,mt0W62]7ͣQw\NW3WD:}yըfLz̷,IYj- l?T3L$cpF]ӼَYS$K~h/}1TI0:odq>&Iunji#^~5xQ \@V$Jِ6Sy:ls16{&ֻp$^={C?7,^j&o6t<;)}3WmOw[+W֑|`ͨ~sst zxV_FNtvPOףm 2_WdhK79.Y ~Gܘ)A嶍&M#sS4j5,Ic "$nԚc3TCbcdF[@XL@E,*ɏ(HrP+`tVUj-/^Qg$rjY)6-D @zej@r7W.٠P Ny Cb|+nC{jZC:@lMaיqg| W_"1PO4,᫦kCV}L`e"OEjs.1HW^9. ?v'V
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1